Summary
Objectives
The study aimed to describe daily vocal demands, perceptions and knowledge as reported
by occupational voice users.
Study Design
A descriptive, cross-sectional research design was employed.
Methods
A survey on vocal demands, perceptions and knowledge was distributed to 102 occupational
voice users via a snowball sampling technique.
Results
Slightly more than half of the participants (55%) reported using their voice for work
36.5 hours a week on average (SD = 15.5, range: 33–40). Participants reported that, on average, their daily voice
use is 6.3 hours (SD = 2.7) for work and the majority (81%) reported a decrease in voice quality after
work; Three-quarters (75%) also reported vocal fatigue at the end of day. Approximately
one-third (33%) reported being exposed to environments where they are expected to
shout, scream or cheer loudly. More than half of the participants (61%) reported that
they have previously received vocal health education but 40% reported that they felt
this training was insufficient. High vocal demands are significantly correlated to
an increase in perceived vocal handicap rs = 0.242; (P = 0.018), tiredness of voice rs = 0.270; (P = 0.008), physical discomfort rs = 0.217; (P = 0.038) as well as how occupational voice users experience improvement of symptoms
with rest rs = −0.356 (P < 0.001). Other risk factors highlighted by occupational voice users are the ingestion
of liquid caffeine, alcohol, and carbonated drinks, smoking or the presence of chronic
cough, chronic laryngitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Conclusions
Occupational voice users are subjected to high daily vocal demands that can be seen
to be linked to vocal fatigue, changes in voice quality and vocal symptoms experienced.
It is essential that occupational voice users as well as treating clinicians are aware
of certain significant predictors of both vocal handicap and vocal fatigue. These
findings provide insights for developing strategies for training and cultivating vocal
health consciousness and preventive voice care initiatives that focus on occupational
voice users in South Africa.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 25, 2023
Accepted:
January 25,
2023
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofFootnotes
Funding sources: The University of Pretoria.
Identification
Copyright
© 2023 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
